Tuesday, June 13, 2006

...on the mainland at least. We'll be getting on the Kodiak ferry tonight around 10 pm. Good thing the sun will still be up. We made it into Homer day before yesterday after taking Beth on her first fishing trip. We went to Ninilchik and tried our had at catching some salmon and halibut. No luck though. We saw one guy catch a King Salmon though. That's the only fish we saw the entire day. It was wet and rainy too but we had a great time.

Since then we have just been bumming around Homer. It is very pretty here but I think both Beth and I are ready to be off the road. Living out of the car for over a month is fun to a point. And I think we're fast approaching that point. Most of our conversations lately have been about what we're going to unpack first. Beth seems to think it'll be her craft stuff but I've got my vote for our bed. It'll be so nice to hook up that SleepNumber matress and sink down into that soft goodness!!!

So today is just spent packing up our junk yet again and getting ready to get on a boat...again. But this will be the last time and we should be pulling into Kodiak tomorrow sometime. We can't wait. We'll let you know when we get there. Keep praying for us so that we can make it down the homestretch without killing each other.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

We have changed our plans after going to Sunny (Jed's mom's) house for the afternoon. They have invited us to join them all in Soldotna for some fishing. We will are packing up the hotel right now and are going to check out in a moment then eat at Sunny's and head down to Soldotna. We will be camping tonight and fishing tomorrow. How fun is that? I'm really excited since I've never been fishing. After only spending an hour or so with them all I felt like I was part of their family. They are great! I'm excited and will try to update tomorrow night when we check into our hotel in Homer. WOOHOO!!! Hopefully we'll have some good pics and have caught some good fish too! This is the most spontaneous thing we've done this trip. It's been a whirlwind of an afternoon, but so much fun.

Friday, June 09, 2006

I guess Tok was the last time anybody heard from us. We've been relaxing in Anchorage for the past couple days. We decided to stop here for a couple of reasons. First I wanted to give Beth a little time to explore the city for when she gets a chance to hop on a Space A flight (space available on a CG plane) and come back to civilization for a day or weekend. A chance to find all the good places to spend our hard earned ducketts. Second, I have some childhood friends and my god-daughter here in Anchorage. I haven't seen them in over 5 years and with a few exceptions everything is pretty much the same. My god-daughter is a HOOT!!! She will be 6 in November and is sharp as a tack. We had breakfast with her and her dad, Jed yesterday morning and she had us laughing the whole time!!! When we left she asked her dad if she could "go with these people". She has these beautiful brown eyes that will get her out of trouble just as often as they will get her into trouble.

Anchorage is really quite beautiful for being a metropolitan hub of Alaska. It's a little smaller than Pensacola but seems huge compared to the places we've been to already. We've already discovered the REI store here (its our favorite!) and the local outfitters. We both got some new hiking boots to explore our new island home with and Beth picked up some new chest waders for salmon fishing. Just need to get her some wading boots and a fishing pole and she's all set!! I can't wait to see her hook into a 15 lbs salmon for the first time. I just hope she doesn't let go of her fishing pole.

We had dinner with Jed's dad, Mike last night at this fantastic restaurant: Simon and Seafort's Saloon and Grill. Awesome! I had some grilled King Salmon and Beth had Crab Stuffed Halibut. Both were to die for. Then to top the night off...Burnt Creme and Chocolate Torte. Delectable!!

We'll be here for another couple days. We'll be going to Jed's house for a picnic tomorrow. We'll be able to let the girls run in a yard again. We tried to find a dog park for them but there really isn't any fenced in place that they can run. They'll be so excited. Hopefully they'll be too worn out to bark at every knock or breath of wind. Only time will tell. We'll let you know how it goes.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

After much tossing and turning and a little heaving we made it safe and sound back to dry land. Actually it really wasn't that bad. Beth didn't even get sick. And the girls were fantastic!!! They didn't mess up the car at all, even though they were trapped inside for hours on end. They were unable to go to the bathroom on the ferry because they are so well trained that they didn't want to go on the hard deck. So the poor things held it for almost 2 days. The were certainly relieved to pull into Ketchikan...in more ways than one!!!

The ferry was a whole new experience for Beth. We were unable to reserve a stateroom so we did the next best thing and pitched our tent on the back deck!! Now that's traveling in style!! And believe it or not we weren't the only poor folks out there...there were at least 4 other tents on our deck and another half dozen on the deck below us. But at least we had some shelter and privacy. There were tons of people just sleeping in chairs or on the floor. Surprisingly we had really good nights of sleep. The wind blew occasionally and really whipped the tent around but just when we thought we were going to be blown overboard the ferry would change course and the wind would die right down. We had our brand new -30 degree sleeping bags from Cabella's and we were toasty warm. The view along the inside passage was out of this world!!! Absolutly breath-taking!!!

Our days were pretty much spent doing whatever we wanted to do...reading, watching movies, taking pictures, sleeping, etc...Beth did get a little cabin fever towards the end. But then we were pulling into Haines, AK. Once we got off the ferry we were back in the car heading north. Getting into Canada was pretty easy. We didn't have passports and Beth's birth-certificate got packed in our household goods by accident but we had a really nice Border Patrol that let us through because her name was on my orders. We spent the night in Haines Junction, Yukon Territory Canada. We went to a restaurant where all the locals hang out. The hockey game was on and sure enough a local came in and said "Hockey, eh?" in a true Canadian accent. Beth and I both about lost it. Took everything we had not to laugh. I always thought Canadians saying "eh?" after every sentance was just a joke but it turns out to be true. Who'da'thunk'it, eh??

After Haines Junction we hit the ALCAN for real, and the ALCAN hit back. Even though it is paved for parts of it the frost heaves in the road are killer. Frost heaves are when water seeps down under the road and then freezes. The ice expands and pushes the pavement up in a little hump. It's like driving across an old fashioned washboard. I even let Beth have a go at it. She told me that she was gonna get an "ulcer from driving on that stupid road". I think I'll be driving most of tomorrow now.

Well tonight has us in Tok (Toke), AK. We were able to finally do some laundry and get un-stinkified. There is a really good restaurant here at Young's Motel, surprisingly good. We were able to have a fantastic dinner for very reasonable prices. Tomorrow has us getting to Anchorage for a few days of camping, visiting friends and relaxing. Both of us are getting really ready to be in our own home again and off the road but it has been a great trip so far and we've really learned a lot about each other.

It's now a little after 11 pm and the sun is just about to set so it's time to get some sleep before hitting the road tomorrow. (We're still trying to figure out how to get pictures added. We obviously have been able to add them before so we're not sure what's going on but trust us we'll get them on as soon as possible. They are worth waiting for.)

Friday, June 02, 2006

We decided to drive straight to Seattle on Wednesday so we could have a break on Thursday. I think the girls needed a break too. I tried to get the pics up, but it's not letting me post any and we can't for the life of us figure out why. We may try deleting some of the pics in previous posts to see if that is the problem.

We went to the Space Needle yesterday. What an amazing structure! It's 605 feet tall and was built for the World's Fair in 1962. We walked around and got some pics up there before going down to the nearby foodcourt for some lunch. Zach hasn't been feeling very well, so we ended up having soup and sandwiches. We headed back to the hotel after that so Zach could get a nap before dinner.

We were invited to Leighanne and Todd....ugh, I can't remember their last name I just remember her maiden name - Presley. I do know it starts with a G. Hmm...Delinda, help me out here. Anyway, they had us over for dinner, but Todd, Cora Lynn and Savannah had to go to a track awards thing for school. Savannah ran track this year and won 10 awards! Congrats! Zach and I really enjoyed chatting with Leighanne. Ok, so we girls did most of the talking, but hey. It was nice to be around her again. I can totally see why she and Delinda are best friends.

Speaking of Delinda...it was funny b/c the first thing out of Leighanne's mouth was, "You look just like Delinda, you are making me miss her more!" Savannah thinks I sound just like her too. I never think about it I guess. It was really funny.

They wanted us to bring the dogs with us and Snowflake and Morgan really enjoyed being in a house with carpet and couches. It was really funny. They were pretty calm for the most part.

After the awards, they brought back ice cream and Leighanne had made a cake. It was so good! I'm so glad we were able to hang out with them. We haven't seen any of them since May of 2002. The girls have grown up so much! They are beautiful! Leighanne and Todd haven't changed a bit. I am kicking myself in the butt too. I can't believe I forgot to take pictures while we were there. I actually woke up this morning mad at myself for it! Oh well...se la vie.

Today we are off to Bellingham to catch our ferry, so it will likely be a while before we are able to get back online. We will have lots to update when we get back on though. I'm a little nervous about the ferry and leaving the Continental US. I've never done that before, but I know that God is in control and He will take care of everything. I just wish the girls didn't have to stay in the car. There are 3 pet calls a day though, but still.

About Us

Zach is a pilot for the CG and I am a SAHM of two two-year olds - both jobs are extremely dangerous and not for the weak of heart. We are stationed in Kodiak, Alaska and love it here. Kodiak has so much to offer and we have made some amazing friends who are now family. It's hard to live away from family, but for now, we know we are exactly where God wants us.